Bullying awareness

April 06, 2011

Three Somerset teenage girls were charged in juvenile petitions after an attack March 2 that left a 14-year-old girl with a concussion and other injuries.

Police Chief Randy Cox called the incident “disturbing.” Somerset teenagers are generally well-behaved, he told reporters on Monday. This type of activity doesn’t occur regularly. There were at least 10 kids involved in the incident that apparently started after an argument. One teenager shot a video of the attack and then posted it on a social media site.

More than 200 schools in Pennsylvania, including some in Somerset County, use the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. The Highmark Foundation released a report in November that showed that schools that use the program saw a decrease in bullying by 14 percent among elementary students and 25 percent among high school students. The program is designed to improve peer relations and to make schools safer.

Bullying is not just a school issue. The March 2 incident did not happen on school grounds. Bullying is a community issue. The attack on the girl ended because two bystanders — Somerset Hospital nurses — saw what was happening and stepped in.

Bullying is the perceived or real power of one person over another. The enabling ingredient in bullying has been to ignore it. But we can no longer assume that because those involved are children that they will work things out on their own. Bullying must be stopped.